I can't remember a time when Sheriff Greg Solano wasn't running for lieutenant governor. No joke: When I moved to New Mexico in the fall of 2007, the Blogging Sheriff had already begun the transition to Blogging Statewide Candidate, explaining that in this modern age you really do have to start campaigning three years before election day.

There's been much speculation about who he may face in the primary. This week, Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Bernalillo, chairman of the state Senate Rules Committee, announced her clear intention to ascend to the fourth floor. What does Solano have to say about his opponent?

SFR: You've got competition now for lieutenant governor. Any reaction?

GS: Well, I look forward to the campaign. Really, until filing day you really never know for sure who is going to be in or out. People will jump in and out of races all the way up until filing day and then they're still getting the signatures and getting the delegate votes at the pre-primary convention, so it's very early to really tell who the candidates finally will be. My intention is to be in this all the way to the end.

Do you know Lopez at all?

No, I don't know her other than reading about her. I was at the state central committee and I talked to other people who said she was there, but I think we just kept missing each other. I didn't even see her. I saw her stickers on some people and that was about it. I've never met her actually.

Any thoughts if DPNM Chairman Brian Colon throws in?

Well, it would be very interesting that Brian Colon ran for party chair if he thought he was going to run for lt gov because he just finished committing to himself to being the party chair. Anybody who's going to run for lt gov seriously really has to be in the race by mid this year, by july. You can extrapolate from that that I'm not so sure he will run.

How long til your lieutenant governor blog starts picking up again?

I added stuff from the state central committee last night and it's going to be really picking up in the month or two. My plan is to by June and July to actually start fundraising, which will mean a lot of events and things coming into play that haven't before.